St. Paul daily globe., 1887-09-18
PACKING MONTANA BEEF.
Methods in Vogue In Minneapolis
Slaughter House.
NOT A MoRSEL Is LOST.
From Pen to Refrigerator Before the
Animal Heat is
Gone.

known as ''sow-belly." In spite of the
Bismarckian aversion to American hog,
most of this export goes to Germany,
and the quantity is rapidly increasing
year by year. As yet, the Northwest
exports no beef. as it requires for its
own consumption all it can kill. but the
time is not far distant when large
train of refrigerator cars will each day
leave the Twin Cities, carrying Mon
tana cattle to be shipped to Europe.
What is now carried on small scale
will eventually become agigantie enter
prise, and that time is not far distant,
either. Few people there are who have
not, at some time in their lives, wit
messed the process of slaughtering
domestic animals. They have seen the
maui fall on the forehead of the bullock
and the calf, and the knife pierce the
throat of the hog and the sheep, all of
it done in ali lmintentionaliy barbarous
style that would have called out an in
dignant protest from the humane soei-
ETY.. This is
THE FARM STYLE
of slaughtering, and is far different
from the professional methods in vogue
in the abattoir of the large packing
house of stock yard. While such
scenes are daily being enacted about
the city, they are unfamiliar save to
those directly interested. unless it is the
dozen or more consumptives who make
daily visit for the purpose of drinking
warm bulls blood.
''Did you oversee the packing of Mon
tana cattle2" was asked GLOBE re-
porter by Meat Inspector Mea the other
day. The answer was evidenced in the
fact that half hour later found the
pair in the packing house of the Mime
apOlis Provision company, at the Trans
fer. A carload of Montana steers had
Just Beos, run into the yards. and the
visit was All upnortune one. They are
wild as buffal0es, ant their long, sharp
horns are menace which Is not with
out its meaning. To venture anlOrS-
them on foot would be almost certain
death, yet cowboy might mount and
ride among them with impuhity. For
this reason. the mode of killing them is
entirely different. Over the pens board
walks are laid for the drivers, who prod
the cattle with pole and drive them to
the packing house as required. Con-
nected with the pens and standing di-
rectly up to the dressing room are four
small pens, each just large enough to
admit one steer and in which he cannot
turn. When ready for the sacrifice he
stands in this little coop facing the
house and is visible through small
aperture opening in the doors. When a
carcass is wanted a rifle is thrust
through this aperture and
A BULLET GOES CRASHING
through the steers forehead, bringing
him to the ground. The doors are
thrown open, a rope passed about its
neck and the carcass dragged out upon
the floor. A dextrous movement of a
knife sewers large artery i'll the neck
and the blood Dours out in torrents. In
a few moments life is extinct and the
huge body is turned upon its back. One
stroke removes each leg at the
knee and another sewers the
head, the five pieces passing
to another workman. The hide is
ripped from throat to tail and a few
strokes loosen the viScera. Hooks are
caught in the hind quarters and the
carcass is gradually elevated as the
work of cleaning goes on. and by the
time the body is free of the floor, the
interior has been nicely cleaned, the
|. contents going to still another quarter
for treatment. The hide is then
stripped off in few minutes and the
pink, and white carcass wiped off and
dried, the finishing strokes falling to
the man with the large cIeaver, who
splits it into sides and runs the sides
into the refrigerator. Not ten minutes
have been required for the operation
which converted a wild steer INTO two
sides of marketable beef, and the ami
NAL warmth has not left the body, when
the work is done.
NOTHING Is LOST.
The tail, liver. heart and sweet
breads, all of which are delicious, are
nicely cleaned and carried to the re-
frigeratOr. The intestineS are washed
and packed for bolOgne sausage cases,
and the inner lining of the huge pounch
including the blood, which rapidly coag-
ulates, goes to the rendering works and
is converted into fertilizer, instead of
being dumped into the river, which i'm
proyement was brought about by re-
cent article in the GLOBE describing the
horrors of the dump. The head is care
fully skinned and every vestige of flesh
removed to be converted into sausage
meat. The shank tendons and other
Sinewy parts are glue stock, while the
horn, hOOf and shank bone are con-
yerted into buttons, combs and knife
handles. Not particle is wasted.
Strange to say, the killing room is de-
void of the slightest unpleasant odor.
ID tHC VI lIVOh w lGli
its unmistakable saline flavor, but that
is wholesome and not disagreeable. The
slanting floor carries off the torrents of
blood, with the assistance of rubber
Scraper. such as is used to wash plate
windows. and the plentiful use of water
keeps even this clean and sweet. 1t is
noticeable that every one of the work
men is stalwart and brawny and gives
evidence of the wholesomeness of the
occupation. Indeed, it is proverbial that
butchers are fat and healthy.
Montana beef, which is the same as
Texan, is superior to our native meat.
The flesh has a rich and juicy tender
ness unknown to the pensive COW of the
states. The rich buffalo grass is as rich
as corn, for pasturage, and imparts a
flavor to the flesh that is unmistakable.